Semi Olympus II
Semi Olympus II The Semi Olympus II (セミ・オリンパス・Ⅱ型) was the first camera entirely made by the company. The body was designed by Mr Kitagawa (北川). Sakurai Eiichi, p.64 of no.20. Description http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1203/582649573_13221a8c51_m_d.jpg The Semi Olympus II is a horizontal folder taking 4.5×6cm pictures. The folding struts are the same as on the Balda products, certainly under the influence of the previous Semi Olympus. The camera has a tubular viewfinder, an advance knob at the left end of the top plate and an accessory shoe at the right end. The serial number is engraved in the advance knob, together with an arrow indicating the winding direction. The back is hinged to the left and the back latch is covered by a leather handle; there are two red windows at the bottom to control the film advance, covered by a black plate pivoting on an axis in the middle. The bottom of the camera has two film flanges, with the shape of a truncated cone; one has a 1/4″ tripod thread and the other has a 3/8″ thread. The OLYMPUS TOKYO logo is embossed at two places: in the back leather (above the red windows) and in the handle. The lens is the same Zuiko 75/4.5 as on the previous Semi Olympus. Evolution through original documents The Semi Olympus II was advertised in Asahi Camera from October 1937 to March 1940, and it was featured in the January 1938 issue of the same magazine. , p.335. The first version of the camera is pictured in advertisements from October 1937 to February 1938 and in a brochure dated 1937. Brochure available in pdf format in this page of the Zuiko Club website. It has a sticker indicating a price of ¥105. The viewfinder is offset to the left (as seen by the photographer) and the folding bed release in in the middle of the top plate. In the documents, the shutter is called Laurel (ローレル, rōreru) and is said to give 1–150, B, T speeds with a self-timer. The name LAUREL is engraved at the base of the speed rim. The shutter plate is inscribed OLYMPUS-TOKYO-N at the top and the aperture scale is at the bottom. No surviving example has been observed with the offset finder and the Laurel shutter, and it is not clear whether this version was actually sold. In the October 1937 advertisement in Asahi Camera, Advertisement (on p.A59 of the magazine) reproduced in , p.62, and in Hibi, p.62 of no.8. no price is given and the camera is presented together with the Olympus Standard; Misuzu Shōkai and Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten are given as authorized dealers for the Standard, and it is unclear whether this applies to the Semi II as well. The advertisement that appears in the November and December issues of Asahi Camera photographs the camera from a slightly different angle, prices the camera at , and names Misuzu and Yamashita as distributors for the Standard, not mentioning any distributor for the Semi. In the full-page advertisement for the Semi Olympus II in the January 1938 issue of Asahi Camera, the Laurel shutter is stated to be designed by Takachiho based on the Prontor II shutter. Yamashita is given as the distributor. The advertisement in the February issue is revised: the distributors are now Yamashita and Mizuno Shashinki-ten. The advertisement in the March 1938 issue of Asahi Camera is the first in that magazine to show the regular version, with the tubular finder in the middle of the top plate and the folding bed release on the right. That in the April issue at first looks the same, but there is no mention of the shutter (which is anyway not shown in the photograph of the camera). One of the pictures in the May 1938 advertisement in Asahi Camera Advertisement reproduced in Hibi, p.62 of no.8. shows a number of cameras from a distance (at least twenty), indicating that the serial production of the camera bodies had begun. In another picture showing a camera from a closer distance, the shutter rim reads DAURED (or possibly DAUREL). It is not clear whether this engraving actually existed or if this is a retouched picture of a camera with Laurel shutter. It is said that the Laurel name was dropped because it was already registered by another company, Francesch, p.24. Hibi, p.63 of no.8, says that it was registered by Tōkyō Kōgaku but this is perhaps a confusion with the postwar Laurelflex made by that company. and the Daured name appearing in this advertisement was certainly the result of a hasty move. The shutter has speeds of 1–150, B, T, and the lens number is legible as 1448 or 1446. The lens number 144x certainly means that less than 500 examples of the Semi Olympus and Semi Olympus II were made up to May 1938. (The pictured camera was certainly finished a short time before the advertisement was published. The company would not have published pictures of the older version in the previous advertisements if the new model was ready to be photographed.) The advertisement in the June 1938 issue of Asahi Camera Advertisement (on p.A50 of the magazine) reproduced in , p.62, and in Hibi, p.62 of no.8. shows the new shutter name Koho (コーホー), both in the text and on the pictured camera. The advertisement shows a mountain and a country road, with the catch-phrase "go gallantly to the green mountains and fields" (緑の山野に颯爽と!), an allusion to the season and perhaps to the camera name Olympus and shutter name Kōhō (meaning "high peak" or "high mountain"). The company Honjō Shōkai was added to the list of authorized dealers and the price was still given as . In advertisements dated July and September 1938, February and October 1939, July 1938: advertisement published in Ars Camera reproduced in Hagiya, p.10 of no.20. — September 1938: advertisement published in Asahi Camera reproduced in the Gochamaze website and in Hibi, p.63 of no.8. — February 1939: advertisement published in Asahi Graph (8 February 1939), reproduced in the Gochamaze website. — October 1939: advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in this page of the Heiki Seikatsu website. the price was raised to and the company Hinode Kōgyō K.K. (日之出興業 ) gradually replaced the three authorized dealers and became the sole distributor. The February 1939 advertisement says that the price of ¥105 comprised a lens hood and a cable release. The top speed is given as 1/150 in all these advertisements. Incidentally, in all the advertisements for the Semi Olympus II, the lens is called 瑞光 ("Zuikō" in kanji script) while the shutter is called コーホー ("Kōhō" in katakana script). The Semi Olympus II was advertised in Asahi Camera until the March 1940 issue. , p.335. It was still mentioned in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, for ¥121. , type 3, section 6B. It was also in a similar price list dated November 1941, for an unknown price. , type 3, section 6B. The Olympus Six was already available for sale at that time, the observed serial numbers seem to indicate that there was no overlap in the production of the the two models. It is thus presumed that these prices applied to the remaining stocks of the Semi Olympus II, held by the company or by the retailers. Surviving examples All the examples observed of the Semi Olympus II have the viewfinder centred above the top plate and a Koho shutter. The early examples have 1–150, B, T speeds. The earliest lens number observed so far is no.2001. Example pictured in Francesch (cover page) and in , p.747. This camera was necessarily made after the May 1938 "Daured" episode (see above): if the camera was available before, the company would not have used a picture (original or retouched) showing the name Daured in the May 1938 advertisement, and would have used a photograph of a camera with Koho shutter instead. This is a hint that very few Olympus cameras were made before that date. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1065/582649591_94408169d2_m_d.jpg Koho shutter to 1/200, no T setting. An example is known with a folding optical finder centred above the top plate, instead of the tubular finder. Example picture in Hibi, p.63 of no.8, in Shunkan o torae-tsuzukeru shattā-ten, p.21 and in Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p.23. It has lens no.2048 and a Koho shutter, and the folding finder is probably not original. On all the examples observed of the Semi Olympus II, the lens engraving differs from the early engraving found on the previous Semi Olympus. It is Zuikô 1:4,5 f=7.5cm Takatiho Tokyo No.xxxx (circunflex accent) up to lens no.3797 and Zuiko 1:4,5 f=7.5cm Takatiho Tokyo No.xxxx (no accent) from lens no.5253. Lens no.3797: example pictured in Francesch, p.58, in , item 1215, in Hagiya, p.14 of no.20 and in this page of the Olympus Photo Club. Lens no.5253 (body no.5368): example pictured in Hagiya, p.14 of no.20. Later examples have 1–200, B, T speeds, with no other change. Lens no.5253 is associated with 1/150 top speed and lens no.5389 with 1/200 top speed, and the transition probably occurred around that time. Lens no.5389: example observed in online auctions: body no.5362, lens no.5389; lens no.5454. However the different parts constituting the camera (body, shutter and lens) were not used in strict sequence: for example, lens no.5253 goes with body no.5368 and lens no.5389 goes with the earlier body no.5362. One isolated example is known with 1–200, B speeds and no T setting. Example observed in an online auction. It has body no.6641 and lens no.6168, the latest numbers observed so far on a Semi Olympus II. Notes Bibliography Original documents * Advertisements for the Semi Olympus II: Asahi Camera October 1937, p.A59; November 1937, p.A54; December 1937, p.A52; January 1938, p.A54; February 1938, p.A42; March 1938, p.A52; April 1938, p.A50; May 1938, p.A52; June 1938, p.A50; September 1938, p.A46; January 1939, p.A55. * Type 3, section 6B. * Type 3, section 6B. Recent sources * Items 37–40 and 440–50. * * Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Kōkoku kara miru Orinpasu kamera no nagare" (広告から見るオリンパスカメラの流れ, "Olympus camera history seen through the advertisements"). Pp.10–1. * Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Orinpasu kamera no subete 1: supuringu kamera " (オリンパスカメラのすべて1・スプリングカメラ戦前編, "All of Olympus cameras 1: folding cameras prewar"). Pp.13–5. * Hibi Takashi (日比孝). "Nihon no supuringu kamera: Orinpasu" (日本のスプリングカメラ・オリンパス, "Japanese folding cameras: Olympus"). Pp.62–5. * Kamera no mekanizumu sono I: "Hai! Chīzu" Shunkan o torae-tsuzukeru shattā-ten (カメラのメカニズム・そのⅠ・「ハイ！チーズ」瞬間をとらえ続けるシャッター展, Camera mechanism, part 1 "Cheese!" Exhibition of instant taking shutters). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2002. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number) P.21. * P.747. * Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.23. * Orinpasu-ten — oputo-dejitaru-tekunolojī no kiseki (オリンパス展・オプトデジタルテクノロジーの軌跡, Olympus exhibition, the tracks of opto-digital technology). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2005. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.4. * Sakai Shūichi (酒井修一). "Orinpasu no rekishi" (オリンパスの歴史, "History of Olympus"). Pp.6–9. * Item 1215. * "Zadankai: Orinpasu no michi" (座談会・オリンパスの道, "Conversation: the way of Olympus"). Interview of Sakurai Eiichi (桜井栄一), Maitani Yoshihisa (米谷美久) and Kawazoe Mitsuo (河添光男), by Saeki Kakugorō (佐伯恪五郎). Pp.64–71. Links General links In English: * Medium-format cameras and chronology in the Olympus official website * Olympus folders' page at John Foster's site * Chrome Six Website by François Rossi In German: * Semi Olympus II at Olypedia In Japanese: * Semi Olympus and Semi Olympus II in the history pages of the Olympus Photo Club website. (The information there seems to be based on the article by Hibi in no.8.) Literature and advertisements In Japanese: * Advertisements for the Semi Olympus II published in the September 1938 issue of Asahi Camera and in the 8 February 1939 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in the Japanese camera page of the Gochamaze website * Advertisement for the Semi Olympus II published in the October 1939 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in a page of camera advertisements at the Heiki Seikatsu website * Documents reproduced in the medium format page of the Olympus official website: ** Brochure for the Semi Olympus II dated 1937, showing the offset finder and Laurel shutter: part 1 and part 2 ** Brochure for the regular Semi Olympus II: part 1 and part 2 ** Other brochure for the regular Semi Olympus II: part 1 and part 2 Category: Japanese 4.5x6 viewfinder folding Category: Japanese 6x6 viewfinder folding Category: Japanese 6x6 rangefinder folding Category: Olympus Category: O